I posted in detail about how on moving I muddled my Council Tax and was astonished at the speed with which Edinburgh City Council set the bailiffs upon me. Through my local MP I have now received clarification that Edinburgh City Council take people to court as soon as their payment is 42 days late.
I find that absolutely incredible. People are human, they make mistakes, they may be temporarily short of cash. I cannot think of any other body that is so aggressive in subjecting people to the judicial system for a small delay. No commercial company would dream of taking people to court for just being 42 days late, the utility companies and banks would in fact not to be allowed to do so by regulators and the inland revenue certainly are much less predatory.
Do not misunderstand me. People should pay their tax, on time. I tried to pay mine 46 days late for which I apologise and am happy to accept a late payment penalty. But I can think of absolutely no reason why it was necessary to take me to court for paying my Council Tax in May instead of April.
Actually I can think of one reason – to make enormous money for Scott & Co, the bailiffs. I tried to pay by online direct debit on 25 May, not knowing that on 19 May Edinburgh Council had already referred me to court. My payment appeared accepted and I got a confirmation number from Edinburgh City Council. Three days later, on 28 May, they obtained a court warrant against me. Edinburgh City Council have not taken any payment from my direct debit and they refuse to take any payment from my direct debit. They both refuse to take the payment and at the same time continue to harass me for non-payment.
The reason is they have no interest in collecting my tax. What they want is to make money for Scott & Co., a private company owned by an extremely wealthy husband and wife partnership. I cannot now pay Edinburgh City Council but have to make the payment to this private company including their exorbitant fees.
I have no objection to paying any late penalty to Edinburgh City Council, but when any City Council in Scotland is primarily interested in channeling money to a private company and making millionaire parasites richer, then I look at the size of the houses and value of the cars of councillors, ex-councillors, and senior officials and I ponder, deeply.
“The Scottish government has frozen council tax increases since 2007, told the councils they had to become more efficient. Councils are cutting back on essential services, care homes closed, street lighting, roads, libraries being closed, class sizes increased.”
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Yes Fred Council tax has been frozen,but the SG subsidise the councils,it’s only the rise that the councils are missing out on, there’s over 200,000 kinds living in poverty in Scotland just now, not including the working poor, a rise in council tax could push those families over the edge.
Take Craigs council for example they’re moaning about having to make deep cuts,but they’ve wasted over £700 million quid on the tram system, and if the SG hadn’t stepped in to help them pay for it, it would’ve been, a complete disaster, infact Edinburgh has a very good bus service, the trams were no more than a vanity project.
It would’ve overtaken Edinburgh’s Shame by quite a bit, had the SG not stepped in.
http://www.rampantscotland.com/know/blknow40.htm
Now Glasgow City Council who are closing pensioner daycare centres as well as disabled centres, are bleating there’s no money,yet Glasgow City councillors have a subsidised canteen, they also spent a huge chunk of cash on the Commonwealth games,which incidently cost £560 million quid,of which Westminster contributed absolutely nothing,GCC spent £200,000 alone on flowers during the Commonwealth games.
http://socialistworker.co.uk/art/38609/The+real+cost+of+the+Commonwealth+Games
GCC carparks since they were set up in 2007,have lost,the taxpayer £28 million quid, infact GCC had taken out a £45 million pound loan just too keep the four carparks from going under.
Gordon Matheson wasted £50,000 quid on designs for George Sq,it was widely rumoured he didn’t like the winning design, and scrapped the whole idea.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/news/home-news/2m-council-bailout-raises-concerns-over-car-parking-company.25402607
I’m sure Fred if we looked into the schemes and plans of many other Scottish Councils we’d see more cash wasting schemes, the SG have no authority over councils on how they spend their budget.
Mr Goss
“Kempe 26 Jun, 2015 – 1:52 pm
Are you trying to justify what the thieving insurance companies, the most liquid of all companies, do to children? Because it seems like it.”
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No “thievery” is involved and to use that word in this particular case is just a silly knee-jerk comment.
By custom, vehicle insurance is a yearly contract where cover is provided for a year against an annual consideration (the premium). Payment of the premium in monthly installments is merely a facility offered by the insurers (cf. Council tax, above).
In the case under consideration, the insurers fulfilled their part of the contract by paying out for the total loss. They are entitled to receive the full consideration (the premium)due under the contract. When exactly the insurer’s liability under the contract kicks in is irrelevant.
“I could have helped Tommy Sheridan with Poll Tax debt.
I know how it is created. In the main it is “false”.
I offered to show this Scottish Government how it is done. They did not want to know!.
It is still being done. You have to prove them wrong. And they are always right, they think.”
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Yes Robert in my opinion it was a unfair tax, Scotland recieved the tax a year earlier than the rest of the UK.
However when the Poll Tax was introduced to the rest of the UK in 1990, there were running battles between police and protesters in Trafalgar Square,as the police charged the throbbing masses on horse back, leaving a trail of upended folk in the square, I recall thinking, it was a mild version of the Peterloo massacre.
Mr Goss
Whoops, disregard the above, I read the original post too quickly – my “knee-jerk”, perhaps. 🙂
The insurers did not pay out because there was no fire and theft cover involved.
The true position is as follows: the subject of the insurance (the motor cycle)no longer exists and therefore no premium is due except for the month for which cover (albeit only third party cover) applied and in which cancellation was requested.
Mr Goss
To round off : I wonder if you would agree with me that the real villains of that story are not the insurance company but the cunts who stole and then torched the lad’s motorcycle?
Not so much a story of stinking capitalism, more a sad tale of the underclass preying on the rest of society.
The epitome of the freeloading parasitism as seen in the insurance industry, promotes a veracious avarice to the extent of exclusion of all human notions.
However, the mouth pieces assigned to this blog and elsewhere for guarding the interests of the plutocrats will jump through hoops to deflect from the above reality.
As an aside some while back a conman had set up his own insurance company and was issuing car insurance (a compulsory privateers tax, introduced by the political vassals and guarded by the police that has resulted in traffic police mostly becoming the enforcers of commercial interests). this conman had raised about half million pounds of revenue without so much as paying for any accidents or damages. The only reason his scam came to an end, was the ANPR (automatic Number Plate Recognition) systems that are interfaced to the commercial interests, ie the corporate databases had thrown up the cars as having no insurance.
“Yes Fred Council tax has been frozen,but the SG subsidise the councils,it’s only the rise that the councils are missing out on, there’s over 200,000 kinds living in poverty in Scotland just now, not including the working poor, a rise in council tax could push those families over the edge.”
People on low incomes don’t have pay the full council tax, if any at all, even if they are working.
A very poor excuse for Holyrood starving councils of cash
The spreading of risks on to other insurance policies, for example for flooding, is thievery. Why should someone’s motorcycle insurance go up because the insurance company wants to spread their unrelated risks and minimise their losses?
They don’t just send one to the Sheriff Court, they send maybe 200 at the same time. The judge does not look at them at all and rubber stamps them. Then Scott & Crow can help themselves. The debtor has no right to defend against this. Its a complete stitch up an an affront to democracy this is allowed.
Off topic.
I see our Mhairi Black has graduated with a first class degree in politics from Glasgow University.
Gon yer sel hen! Well done.
Fedup
“The epitome of the freeloading parasitism as seen in the insurance industry, promotes a veracious avarice to the extent of exclusion of all human notions.”
“However, the mouth pieces assigned to this blog and elsewhere for guarding the interests of the plutocrats will jump through hoops to deflect from the above reality.”
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Excuse me?
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“..car insurance (a compulsory privateers tax, introduced by the political vassals and guarded by the police that has resulted in traffic police mostly becoming the enforcers of commercial interests).”
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Are you against compulsory third party motor insurance in general or just compulsory third party motor insurance offered by private companies?
If the latter, would compulsory third party motor insurance run by the state be more acceptable to you?
Further : if third party motor insurance is part of the law of the land, would would you suggest should be charged with enforcing the law if not the police? Should enforcement of that particular legal requirement be entrusted to a private company in your opinion?
“People on low incomes don’t have pay the full council tax, if any at all, even if they are working.”
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Fred everybody (householder/tenent etc.) pays council tax, working or not,though non-working folk pay a reduced rate.
Though some pay less than others.
The Queen pays Council tax on the most prestigious address in the country to Westminster City Council, which has the second lowest rates in the country. That means the annual bill for herself and Prince Philip is £1,375 pounds a year – £400 cheaper than the average bill for families living neighbouring boroughs.
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A very poor excuse for Holyrood starving councils of cash.
Addressing your second point Fred, please take into account,that the SG has had their budget cut this year alone by Westminster, to the tune of £177 million quid.
Also Gideon Osborne, the Chancer of the Exchequer will make a second budget cutting speech on July 8th this year, which I’m afraid will have a devastating effect on the disabled, elderly and poor of the United Kingdom.
Robert Crawford
“I see our Mhairi Black has graduated with a first class degree in politics from Glasgow University.”
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David Cameron, our Prime Minister, has often received stick on this blog for having taken a degree in politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford; he got a first as well.
Republicofscotland
“The Queen pays Council tax on the most prestigious address in the country to Westminster City Council, which has the second lowest rates in the country. That means the annual bill for herself and Prince Philip is £1,375 pounds a year – £400 cheaper than the average bill for families living neighbouring boroughs.
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A very poor excuse for Holyrood starving councils of cash.”
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What is the connection between the Council tax paid by Her Majesty and (1) Holyrood starving council of cash, and/or (2) the average Council tax in neigbouring boroughs , and/or (3) discounting Council tax for people on low incomes?
It seems to me that your “arguments” are a little like grousing about someone on the grounds that he/she is better-off than someone else – or have I missed something?
“David Cameron, our Prime Minister, has often received stick on this blog for having taken a degree in politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford; he got a first as well.”
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Habb.
His brother Alexander, is I think a barrister but of course the real power behind David Cameron, is his wife Samantha, is it not.
“What is the connection between the Council tax paid by Her Majesty and (1) Holyrood starving council of cash, and/or (2) the average Council tax in neigbouring boroughs , and/or (3) discounting Council tax for people on low incomes?
It seems to me that your “arguments” are a little like grousing about someone on the grounds that he/she is better-off than someone else – or have I missed something?”
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Well Habb, I was using HRH as a example of how Council tax varies from area to area, is it not relevant to the theme?
As for last line of your comment, I don’t know have you missed something?
I have a look at Craigs blog when a new post appears on my horizon, but not as often as I used to.
Why does every new blog, no matter what the issue, have Fred posting anti SNP links and rants? His posts stop me from visiting as often as I used to, as I find his superior attitude offensive, and it leaves me feeling angry and upset. He lives in my country, Scotland, yet loves posting anti Scottish diatribes.
He reminds me of the last of the whites in the former Rhodesia, as the citizens finally took control of their own country.
—
[ Mod: Juteman, we are making more of an effort to keep the top post a bit more on-topic these days, particularly for the first day/ page or so. Your post can stay, all the same. ]
“Fred everybody (householder/tenent etc.) pays council tax, working or not,though non-working folk pay a reduced rate.”
No, someone on a low income or someone with special needs can receive 100% CTR.
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Government/local-government/17999/counciltax/CTR/howitworks
“Addressing your second point Fred, please take into account,that the SG has had their budget cut this year alone by Westminster, to the tune of £177 million quid.”
And they had a fiscal underspend of either £145 million or £444 million in 2014 depending on who you believe.
The council tax freeze benefits people on high incomes who live in big houses and penalises the poor and needy as councils cut services because they don’t have the money to pay for them.
New statistics show that more than 100,000 Discretionary Housing Payments were awarded in Scotland between 1st April and 31st December 2014. The Scottish Government is providing £35m this year and next year to councils to fully mitigate the Bedroom Tax.
The Scottish Government has spent £300m mopping up Westminster’s mess on welfare.
http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2015/feb/new-figures-underline-snp-action-bedroom-tax
Fred the SG need to keep reserves in their coffers,unlike Westminster, they have no substantial borrowing powers if things go wrong.
Above I have highlighted one good reason for doing so.
Thank you for leaving my post, mods.
I am being serious in my efforts to engage Fred in debate.
If Fred is willing, an interesting blog might be created between the pair of us having a civilised exchange of views, without him calling me a black/brown shirt for wanting Scottish self determination?
Republicofscotland
“Well Habb, I was using HRH as a example of how Council tax varies from area to area, is it not relevant to the theme?”
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I think most of us already know that Councils set their own Council tax rates and that Council tax therefore vary from area to area.
If you were looking for examples of this, RoS, you could have compared the rate you pay with that paid by one of your buddies on this blog (assuming you’re not a tax dodger, of course).
Therefore the conclusion must be that you were trying to make some kind of cheap anti-Royal “point” and that the Council tax Her Majesty pays on her splendid palaces has no relevance whatsoever to the points raised by other posters.
Feel free to apologise for being a cheap chump.
Using her Majesty as an exa
Juteman
“If Fred is willing, an interesting blog might be created between the pair of us having a civilised exchange of views, without him calling me a black/brown shirt for wanting Scottish self determination?”
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Well, your posts are hardly distinguished by their politeness or lack of provocation, are they. And you usually start it.
Pot – ketttle – black?
“The Scottish Government has spent £300m mopping up Westminster’s mess on welfare.”
The Scottish government should take responsibility instead of blaming Westminster for everything.
The council tax freeze was implemented by the Scottish government and benefits the rich in big houses and penalizes the poorest and most vulnerable in society. It’s purpose is to buy votes as the SNP claim the credit for the freeze and blame other people for the cuts.
If you live in Scotland you will know that services are being cut at an alarming rate. There is a care home near to me facing closure due to budget cuts and it is the same all over Scotland. It’s time to do something about it not just look for somebody else to blame.
Members of Parliament pay the 2nd council tax out of their accommodation allowance.
Jack Straw charged the taxpayer for double the amount of council tax that he was actually paying for four years.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/jack-straws-council-tax-dodge–and-two-loos-prescott-6798819.html
@Habba.
I agree that my posts in reply to Fred have been less than polite, hence my latest post.
I seriously want to find out why Fred hates the thought of Scottish independence so much.
Numbers of comments seem to shrink daily rather than increase.
Juteman
I have listened to Fred for some time now so let me be rude enough to interject.
‘Say hello to the new boss, same as the old boss’
‘Nuff said.
Hmm. That could be clearer. Reasons why Fred hates the thought oif Scots Indy.
Abrogation of the state from it’s responsibilities, in providing and building flood defences is covered up through the song and dance about “insurance payouts”. As we all know insurance companies are very quick in taking anyone’s money by issuing a piece of meaningless paper that in turn carries small print, basically outlining a very narrow set of parameters that will result in payment against any claims.
Fact that any claim can only be realised after a huge deal of leg work of the claimant who will be subject, verifications of “truth” software intercepting the phone calls of the would be claimants! (this bit of technology is the handy work of the zionistani efforts, through induction of the US based brains to code this software that otherwise would have been deemed illegal elsewhere.).
The motor insurance market is a failed, broken, and dysfunctional market. As reflected in the prices of the comprehensive cover and third party only premiums that are only few single pounds apart.
The compulsory insurance requirements of the law, designed by the free-loading sharks of the insurance industry and legislated for by the selected vassals of the said sharks set in place as the “elected representatives” have brought about a free for all windfall for the insurance companies. (Gas, Electric, Water, and Food are supplied at above the market prices, all in the best possible causes; enriching the few oligarchs even further)
The fact that laws making compulsory the motoring insurances that are so diligently enforced by the traffic police, ought to have set up a government scheme where the motorists were insured through an additional premium on the road tax. This instead of signing a blank cheque for the insurance companies on behalf of every motorist on the road, was never debated, hinted or even entertained.
The cock and bull yarns of insurance companies spreading their risks etc, are just stories to keep the gravy train on track and extort vast sums from any would be motorist. The simple fact is, these know that the government has no real transport policy (in fact none at all) in place to help the movement of people for the purposes of work, and play. Hence the monopoly of milking the captive motorists is the best game in town.
“If Fred is willing, an interesting blog might be created between the pair of us having a civilised exchange of views, without him calling me a black/brown shirt for wanting Scottish self determination?”
You are the only one making personal attacks on anyone, I’m just discussing government policy.
If you don’t stop making personal remarks about me you will be flamed and if the mods don’t like it they know what they can do.
I see Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to do something about the SNP blackshirts and about time too.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3138313/Nicola-Sturgeon-says-ll-purge-party-cybernats-pledges-crack-trolls-end-online-abuse.html